Sources for dataset on acid attacks

The Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forensis annual publication of crime data: Forensis available online at: http://www.medicinalegal.gov.co/cifras-estadisticas/forensis  This database includes all examinations conducted by the state for the purpose of filing criminal charges. Acid attacks are coded by gender, variously, under the terms: ҇cido� and �agente qu�mico� and by type of violence, including intimate partner violence, interpersonal violence, etc� In addition, I submitted a freedom of information request to Medicina Legal for specific information on acid attacks and have included the data provided in their response. 

National Health Institute�s database (SIVIGILA), available at https://www.ins.gov.co/Direcciones/Vigilancia/Paginas/SIVIGILA.aspxThis database presents information pertaining to the use of the health care system. Any individual who presents for medical attention is treated and registered. I searched for ҇cido� and �agente qu�mico�. 

Archival research for news coverage of acid attacks in the national daily El Tiempo from 1996-2017, searching for ҇cido� and �agente qu�mico�.

Archival research for news coverage of acid attacks in the national weekly magazine Semana from 1996-2017, searching for ҇cido� and �agente qu�mico�.

Fundaci�n Reconstruyendo Rostros � private database created by Gina Potes, survivor. 

Information provided in response to freedom of information requests regarding acid attacks from the Secretar�a Distrital de la Mujer, la Consejer�a Presidencial para la Equidad de la Mujer, and the Observatorio Nacional de Violencia de G�nero.  



Notes on strengths and weaknesses of data:

No state agency systematically recorded or tracked acid attacks until 2012. Prior to 2012, estimates are based on emergency health care provision and survivor databases.

Statistical discrepancies between INMLCF and NHI has led at least one observer to argue that acid attacks might affect men and women equally, although no other experts ascribe to this interpretation of the data. INMLCF is a state institution that provides legal evidence for criminal cases. Victims not pursuing criminal complaints are not assessed by INMLCF. Women are less likely than men to seek criminal charges for any crime, and are more underreported than men in all INMLCF statistics and in reporting intimate partner violence in particular. Moreover, INMLCF cannot differentiate between bystanders or good Samaritans whose injuries are usually limited in nature, often to their hands, and intended targets whose injuries tend to be significantly more debilitating. 



Note on interpretive and archival research:

Interpretive research on the campaign and the response to women�s organizing occurred during nineteen months of field research in 2006, 2007, 2011, and 2017. I gathered and analyzed all publications, videos, and press releases by the Colombia is Passion campaign. News coverage in two main news sources in the country, the daily newspaper El Tiempo and the weekly magazine Semana. Radio shows, television programming, social media and public commentary were also detailed in field notes and analyzed in addition to these two main print sources, in order to detail the cultural �schema� of the country at the time.


